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useRevalidator

Revalidate the data on the page for reasons outside of normal data mutations like window focus or polling on an interval.
This hook only works in Data and Framework modes.
Page data is already revalidated automatically after actions. If you find yourself using this for normal CRUD operations, you’re probably not taking advantage of Form, useFetcher, or useSubmit that do this automatically.

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Signature

function useRevalidator(): {
  revalidate: () => Promise<void>;
  state: "idle" | "loading";
}

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Parameters

None.

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Returns

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revalidator
object
An object with the following properties:

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Usage

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Revalidate on window focus

import { useRevalidator } from "react-router";
import { useEffect } from "react";

export default function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const onFocus = () => revalidator.revalidate();
    window.addEventListener("focus", onFocus);
    return () => window.removeEventListener("focus", onFocus);
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return (
    <div>
      {revalidator.state === "loading" && <p>Refreshing...</p>}
      {/* Your content */}
    </div>
  );
}

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Revalidate on interval

function LiveData() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const interval = setInterval(() => {
      revalidator.revalidate();
    }, 5000);
    
    return () => clearInterval(interval);
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return (
    <div>
      {revalidator.state === "loading" && "Updating..."}
      {/* Display data */}
    </div>
  );
}

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Manual refresh button

function RefreshButton() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  return (
    <button
      onClick={() => revalidator.revalidate()}
      disabled={revalidator.state === "loading"}
    >
      {revalidator.state === "loading" ? "Refreshing..." : "Refresh"}
    </button>
  );
}

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Revalidate on visibility change

function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const handleVisibilityChange = () => {
      if (document.visibilityState === "visible") {
        revalidator.revalidate();
      }
    };
    
    document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", handleVisibilityChange);
    return () => {
      document.removeEventListener("visibilitychange", handleVisibilityChange);
    };
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return <div>...</div>;
}

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Revalidate on network status

function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const handleOnline = () => revalidator.revalidate();
    window.addEventListener("online", handleOnline);
    return () => window.removeEventListener("online", handleOnline);
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return <div>...</div>;
}

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Common Patterns

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Window focus revalidation utility

function useRevalidateOnFocus() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const onFocus = () => {
      if (revalidator.state === "idle") {
        revalidator.revalidate();
      }
    };
    
    window.addEventListener("focus", onFocus);
    return () => window.removeEventListener("focus", onFocus);
  }, [revalidator]);
}

// Use in components
function Dashboard() {
  useRevalidateOnFocus();
  const data = useLoaderData();
  return <div>{data.content}</div>;
}

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Polling with cleanup

function usePolling(interval: number) {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const timer = setInterval(() => {
      revalidator.revalidate();
    }, interval);
    
    return () => clearInterval(timer);
  }, [revalidator, interval]);
  
  return revalidator;
}

function LiveFeed() {
  const revalidator = usePolling(10000); // Poll every 10s
  const data = useLoaderData();
  
  return (
    <div>
      {revalidator.state === "loading" && <Spinner />}
      <Feed items={data.items} />
    </div>
  );
}

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Smart revalidation

function useSmartRevalidation() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  const [lastRevalidation, setLastRevalidation] = useState(Date.now());
  
  const smartRevalidate = useCallback(() => {
    const now = Date.now();
    // Only revalidate if 30 seconds have passed
    if (now - lastRevalidation > 30000) {
      revalidator.revalidate();
      setLastRevalidation(now);
    }
  }, [revalidator, lastRevalidation]);
  
  return { revalidate: smartRevalidate, state: revalidator.state };
}

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Revalidate with loading state

function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  const data = useLoaderData();
  
  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={() => revalidator.revalidate()}>
        Refresh
      </button>
      
      <div
        style={{
          opacity: revalidator.state === "loading" ? 0.5 : 1,
          transition: "opacity 200ms",
        }}
      >
        {data.content}
      </div>
    </div>
  );
}

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Conditional revalidation

function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  const { hasUpdates } = useLoaderData();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    const interval = setInterval(() => {
      if (hasUpdates) {
        revalidator.revalidate();
      }
    }, 5000);
    
    return () => clearInterval(interval);
  }, [revalidator, hasUpdates]);
  
  return <div>...</div>;
}

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Global revalidation component

// In your root layout
function RevalidationManager() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  
  useEffect(() => {
    // Revalidate on focus
    const onFocus = () => revalidator.revalidate();
    window.addEventListener("focus", onFocus);
    
    // Revalidate when coming back online
    const onOnline = () => revalidator.revalidate();
    window.addEventListener("online", onOnline);
    
    return () => {
      window.removeEventListener("focus", onFocus);
      window.removeEventListener("online", onOnline);
    };
  }, [revalidator]);
  
  return null;
}

export default function Root() {
  return (
    <>
      <RevalidationManager />
      <Outlet />
    </>
  );
}

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Revalidate after mutation

function Component() {
  const revalidator = useRevalidator();
  const [hasMutated, setHasMutated] = useState(false);
  
  const performAction = async () => {
    await someApiCall();
    setHasMutated(true);
  };
  
  useEffect(() => {
    if (hasMutated) {
      revalidator.revalidate();
      setHasMutated(false);
    }
  }, [hasMutated, revalidator]);
  
  return <button onClick={performAction}>Do Action</button>;
}
If you’re revalidating after a mutation, consider using Form, useFetcher, or useSubmit instead, which handle revalidation automatically.

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Important Notes

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Automatic revalidation

React Router automatically revalidates data in these cases:
  • After an action is called from a <Form>, useFetcher, or useSubmit
  • When URL params change
  • When search params change for routes with shouldRevalidate returning true

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When to use

Use useRevalidator for:
  • Window focus revalidation
  • Polling/interval updates
  • WebSocket message handlers
  • Manual refresh buttons
  • Network status changes
Don’t use for:
  • Normal form submissions (use <Form> instead)
  • CRUD operations (use useFetcher or useSubmit)
  • Navigation (data loads automatically)

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Performance

Revalidation calls all active route loaders. For partial updates, consider using useFetcher to load specific routes.

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